PKing

PKing, or Player Killing, is when a player purposely attacks another with the intention of killing the victim, as opposed to a player battling an NPC. It is also different from training, which is when two players fight each other to gain experience but do not intend to kill the other.

PKing is one of the most common forms of Player versus Player combat, and is a controversial topic in the world of MMORPGs, let alone Scroll Wars. A player is at risk of being PKed anywhere within Dragon Spires except in those tiles protected by auras of peace. PKing can occur between enemies, neutral parties, or, more rarely, allies. Different groups have different takes on the subjects, and one of the most defining marks of a group is under what conditions they will allow PKing. Some guilds, such as the historical /b/alliance, existed mainly to PK. Most others limit their members from attacking allied guilds to prevent wars and establish trade.

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Perhaps the most common form of PKing is revenge or retaliation. Players who wouldn't otherwise dirty their hands in PKing will retaliate if driven to it by a previous attack, robbery and embarrassment to themselves or an ally.

The best way to avoid this form of Player Killing is to avoid interaction with other players. However, this runs contrary to the purpose of MMORPGs. A more advisable approach would be to conduct yourself in courteous behavior while playing.

Sometimes, nothing can help you escape the wrath of another player. The skill Track Prey allows experienced Rangers to track the last person who attacked them by providing the general direction their opponent is in. The skill is limited, but clever rangers can use this skill to find players who are hiding in other realms.

Even if a player is not active, he can be a valuable resource to others around him. An inactive player provides a source of MP through the Siphon Magic skill. Other players may kill these otherwise innocent victims to rob their enemies or the public at large of an MP source.

The best way to avoid this form of PKing is to not provide yourself as a target. This means hiding so others cannot find you or staying behind barriers such as an Aura of Peace or a Barrier of Trust.

Sometimes a player who does no normally participate in PKing will do so to pass the time. In a game where there are no set goals or no tasks that must be accomplished to proceed, this is bound to happen. Players who are looking for something to do will often beat on the first poor soul they find.

As in the War of Attrition, the best way to avoid this is by hiding or staying safely behind barriers.

By periodically checking inventories, players can identify who controls scrolls.

Sometimes a player kills because it is lucrative. Players with the proper skill sets can rob coins and eventually even steal items from the dead. This is not a common reason for killing because there is rarely a guarantee a player will have great amounts of money on him or her. Stealing items is even more rare due to the amount of time needed for the skill to kick in.

An exception to this rule are Scrolls, ancient parchments that grant their barers superhuman abilities. Whenever the barer of a scroll is killed, there is a 50 percent chance the killer will assume control of the scroll and take that power for him or herself. The rest of the time, the scroll will zoom into the heavens and reappear with the Scroll Guardian.

By checking players' inventories, a Scroll Hunter can search for the five scrolls. Once a player with a scroll is identified, players can actively hunt him or her to seize control of the scroll. The best way to do this is to add players to your contacts and check their inventories periodically. Stronger players and members of powerful guilds are more likely to have scrolls because they have more resources, but other players can easily get their hands on a scroll, too.

The Career PKer is one whose first priority in Scroll Wars is to kill other players. Some view this most dangerous game as the only true challenge in Dragon Spires. NPCs will only attack a player on refreshes or to counter an attack by the player, leaving active players as the main real time challenge in game.

Career PKers use various techniques to help them track, locate and maim their opponents. Some are:

Map Combing - Searching tiles for the sole purpose of locating hidden players. Most often, hidden players are not active, providing the searcher with an easy kill or source of MP.

Spying - Many players will create alternate characters just so they can join other guilds. Using information these alts gleam from guild chat, the main character can pinpoint weaknesses and targets from the victimized guild. This technique is highly controversial, and some consider it a form of griefing.

Alternately, spying could mean following open chats on the broadcast or forums to locate another character. This method is generally not considered griefing.

Raiding Barriers - Guilds set up barriers to protect themselves and their allies. Due to the high cost of casting barriers, it is unlikely a tile with numerous powerful barrier cast on it will be unoccupied. Breaking into such a barrier, however, is no cake walk. A barrier busting team or an extremely high MP level will be required to break through. Read the link for more details.

Pking is an operation not a state. By nature it should defy all vertical or permanent classification and all people which we decide to list here all have or had very personal approaches when it comes to the execution of the intention they share; pking. The sheer number of maneuvers witnessed past and present taught us that we don't necessarily need to define and boil down the different deeds into distinct categories or painstakingly estimate the number of accomplished decapitations, we want to pay tribute to the maneuvers themselves.